Government Suppression of Christianity
After so many people came to Jesus at once, it caught the attention of the authorities. All the Christians in Gao Village were arrested and taken to the police station. The officers demanded to know,"Who brought the name of Jesus to you? How did you all come to believe in this superstition?" The believers were filled with overwhelming joy. The only thing they would say was, "We won't be like Judas! We won't betray our Lord Jesus!" The officers started to beat them and they rejoiced even more...The Christians were laughing and rejoicing. The officers grew tired of beating them and finally said, "You Christians are all crazy!" After a final warning, they sent them all home (Yun 41).
The social circumstances have changed dramatically in favour of Christian expansion. China is more and more open, not only to the economic world but also to the religious world...As far as the interaction between Christian faith and the Chinese tradition is concerned the former is benefited by a much reduced resistance from the latter due to a sequence of revolutionary movements. The Cultural Revolution developed this kind of movement to its extreme, and left a sort of vacuum of religiosity in the mind of the people, especially in that of the younger generations. A chance to fill this vacancy is now open to Christianity (Yao).
Christianity first came into China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in 781 AD. The Chinese called it Nestorian Christianity after a Syrian Nestorian named Alopen, who first brought the faith into China. Nestorian Christianity won support from the government and was allowed to thrive freely. It was named by the Chinese "the Admirable Religion". It expanded and started to become popular until the ninth century when a wave of persecutions against foreign religions came sweeping through. It was driven from central China. Christianity made another attempt to be known in the early nineteenth century. It gained toleration from the government because of the missionaries' sacrifice and hard work for the Chinese people, but also because of the pressure from Western powers. However, in 1919, protest against the Westerners arose, which mainly targeted the Christians and missionaries. By the 1950s, all of Christian missionaries were said to be completely driven out of China. The Three-Self Churches were established during the Cultural Revolution which hindered contact with foreign Christians and organizations. Rekindled, Christianity revival swept across the nation in the 1970s. The Chinese government is more open to Christianity in modern times, however, it is restricted. Yet, Christianity has much more liberty than it did in previous times (Yao).